Investing.com-- U.S. President Donald Trump on Wednesday announced a 50% tariff on copper imports, claiming that the measure was aimed at boosting the domestic copper industry.
Trump announced the tariff in a social media post, making good on his threat from earlier in the week. He also criticized his predecessor Joe Biden in the post, claiming that the Biden administration had compromised the U.S. copper industry.
“Copper is the second most used material by the Department of Defense… This 50% TARIFF will reverse the Biden Administration’s thoughtless behavior, and stupidity. America will, once again, build a DOMINANT Copper Industry,” Trump said.
The president had repeatedly threatened to tariff the red metal and boost domestic production. The U.S. domestically produces just over half the refined copper it consumes annually, with the remainder being imported.
Chile, Canada, and Peru are the biggest copper exporters to the U.S., and have all called for the Trump administration to exempt them from the planned tariffs.
China is the world’s largest copper refiner, but is also the largest consumer of the red metal.
A bulk of U.S. copper is mined in Arizona, with Freeport-McMoRan (NYSE: FCX ) being the country’s biggest producer, followed by Rio Tinto (NYSE: RIO ).
Freeport shares rallied, while U.S. copper futures soared to record highs earlier this week after Trump’s tariff threat.